MARCH 27, 2000

Button breaks record as Coulthard is thrown out in Brazil

JENSON BUTTON became the youngest driver in the history of the Formula 1 World Championship to score a point after David Coulthard was disqualified from his second place in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. Button had finished seventh in the race - his second Grand Prix - but moves to sixth as a result of Coulthard's disqualification. The McLaren driver was excluded because one of the front wings on his McLaren was drooping 7mm lower than it should have done. Coulthard had driven a remarkable race without any of his low gears but still managed to finish just behind Michael Schumacher's Ferrari.

McLaren announced that it would appeal the decision of the FIA stewards, saying that the wing had been damaged by "the bumpy nature of the Sao Paulo circuit".

The defence is a strong one as many of the cars suffered from the appalling track surface. The Brazilian organizers also failed to impress when advertising hoardings above the track broke loose on three different occasions during the qualifying session causing red flags. One of the hoardings fell into the path of Jean Alesi's Prost but fortunately the Frenchman was not hurt.

Four of the top six also ran into trouble because of excessive wear on the wooden underbodies of their cars. It was decided that to avoid a farce that the wear problem should be overlooked as almost everyone had problems.